Newbie Troubles

[themango69]

Hello - I am a complete newbie to FTA and have read a great deal and spent a whole lot of my spare time trying to get this to work and it just isn't budging at this point.

First, here is my setup:

Winegard 31" dish
Digipower SG-2100 DiSEqC Motor
Invacom Quad Polar LNBF

I am trying to troubleshoot manually first (without motor) and have been using different websites to hit 97.0W (formerly IntelSat M5). I was told to try this one first as it has the most channels so would likely be best for me. So, I have one RG59 (sorry all i have at the moment) plugged into "L" port on the LNB straight to Tuner1-IN of the Receiver. I then have a RG6 loopback cable plugged from Tuner1-Out to Tuner2-IN as the book stated I should have this (not sure why).

I have used many different sites that have given me the following information to hit it the 97.0W:

Latitude: 28.582°
Longitude: -81.481°

Name: 97.0W Galaxy 25​

Distance: 36928km
Elevation: 52.5°
Azimuth (true): 210.1°
Azimuth (magn.): 215.6°
LNB skew: 26.2°


Although I believe I have set all of this stuff correctly on the dish, I continuously have had no luck hitting anything higher than 70% strength and 0% Quality. There are also numerous settings to change regarding Transponder, LNB Frequency, etc and I'm just not sure if these settings make a difference or not. It is getting frustrating because I have been moving it over and over manually and this seems to be the best I can hit. I did at one point get numerous channels when doing a blindscan, but most of the channels were "EchoStar" and were scrambled. I assume this is because I'm hitting the wrong sat, but I have no clue which one I'm hitting and if I can just figure out which one I'm on, I could possibly move around at that point using the motor.

Assistance is highly appreciated.

New-B

 

[Mr Tony]

what receiver are we working with?

 

[Mr Tony]

ok...I checked the numbers you posted and that is right. You're somewhere near Florida and those elevation/azimuth etc are correct for your area.

You need to skew the LNB to get the linear stuff. If you are in front of the dish facing it, turn the LNB counterclockwise 26 degrees. On the top of the LNB there should be notches on it or on the LNB holder it may show 0,10,20 etc

Another option (to get the hang of it) is to aim at a satellite near your true south. AMC5 (79W) is near your longitude and might be easier to hit
I get 57 elevation
180 azimuth
-4 skew

at least then you can get the hang of it

 

[themango69]

I apologize, think I had it in original thing I put down and then typed over it.

Receiver is: SonicView Elite 360.

 

[Lak7]

Get the receiver set up first...
Sat Setup Menu
Sat: Galaxy 25
LNB = Standard / Single
L.O. = 10750

If you are not using a Sat Meter, select a Live / Active Transponder from the list, like:12152.
If you do not have a Live TP selected, you will not get a reading in the Quality.

How long is the RG59 cable?

 

[themango69]

You are correct, I live in Orlando. It has started raining/thundering here (love Florida), so I won't be able to do anything with it right now - but I appreciate your quick response.

I am still confused about the Azimuth setting. I see in the motor manual that it talks about the Azimuth, but I guess if it is anything outside of computers it can confuse me quickly. It says factor presets are at 70East and 70West. Can you kind of explain what this means when I would need to alter this based off of the Azimuth setting that comes up? Like, you gave 180azimuth for the 79W one - would I need to adjust this setting? I would really prefer not to because it says I need to disassemble the mounting tube, etc and that will be a pain in the ass if I have to keep doing that.

As always, assistance is appreciated.

New-B

 

[themango69]

Get the receiver set up first...
Sat Setup Menu
Sat: Galaxy 25
LNB = Standard / Single
L.O. = 10750

If you are not using a Sat Meter, select a Live / Active Transponder from the list, like:12152.
If you do not have a Live TP selected, you will not get a reading in the Quality.

How long is the RG59 cable?

I have tried these settings and so far no luck. I am doing a blind scan right now to see if I can get anything.

The RG59 is approximately 25-30ft long.


I have to say, you guys are the bomb when it comes to quick responses.

 

[Lak7]

Azimuth is Compass Direction
The 70 East / West are pre-set Limits, keep the motor from grinding the gears when it reaches the end. They are adjustable if your dish is in a tight area and can not move from the Max East to the Max West.

I have downloaded the manual, so I can follow along
Setup for a single tuner for now, add second later

Go to the Dish Setting Menu - Tuner 1
Sat Galaxy 25
LNB Type : Standard / Single
LNB Freq: 10750

 

[Lak7]

Do you see the TP: 12152 listed?

Edit: that may be too long for rg59, can you bring reciever to dish(when it stops raining)

 

[themango69]

Do you see the TP: 12152 listed?

Yup, I got all of those listed. Right now I have strength of about 65% and Quality 0%. I am going to see if my partner changed any settings though, as I was previously seeing 70%.

Based off of your last statement about Azimuth, since I am currently not using the Motor - I can ignore this correct?

 

[themango69]

Do you see the TP: 12152 listed?

Edit: that may be too long for rg59, can you bring reciever to dish(when it stops raining)

I probably have a really dumb question/comment here. I had thought about that and was going to use a RG6 cable while up there (on roof), but the Receiver does not have a coax plug on the back of it for TV. It has 2 for each Tuner, but unless I'm reading the manual incorrectly - it only has the ability to use like SVIDEO or red/white/yellow cable for connection to TV. Am I missing something here, like maybe should I be putting in a switch or splitter or something to get to the TV? If I could do that, then I would be able to test from up on the roof and rule out the long RG59 (have the mention the ends are questionable as well).

 

[Lak7]

"Quality" is what matters, think of Signal Strength as just showing that there is Power to the LNB: Good cable connections

Next is to allign your dish
Have the receiver on the Dish Setup Menu, Galaxy 25 TP 12152

You need to set the Dish Elevation: 52.5
Then point the Dish to 215.9° using a Compass (Auimuth)
Need to Skew(rotate / tilt) the LNB: 26.3 counter Clockwise

 

[Lak7]

I'm not following what you are saying here, but..
If you are talking about taking the TV to the Dish, you have to bring the Receiver too, I forgot to mention that. It is easier to adjust the dish when you don't have to go up and down.

I probably have a really dumb question/comment here. I had thought about that and was going to use a RG6 cable while up there (on roof), but the Receiver does not have a coax plug on the back of it for TV. It has 2 for each Tuner, but unless I'm reading the manual incorrectly - it only has the ability to use like SVIDEO or red/white/yellow cable for connection to TV. Am I missing something here, like maybe should I be putting in a switch or splitter or something to get to the TV? If I could do that, then I would be able to test from up on the roof and rule out the long RG59 (have the mention the ends are questionable as well).

 

[themango69]

I'm not following what you are saying here, but..
If you are talking about taking the TV to the Dish, you have to bring the Receiver too, I forgot to mention that. It is easier to adjust the dish when you don't have to go up and down.

I wanted to just bring the receiver up there (any other receiver i've used in the past non-fta has a TV out coax connection) and then I would connect up the receiver using a small RG6 cable to LNB and then I would be ok with the long RG59 to the TV (don't really care if crappy picture as long as I get something). But, the receiver does not have this TV out like that, so I believe you have stated what i'd have to do - bring the TV up there too. TV I have it onto now is 62", so don't think that is happening! lol I do have a smaller tv that I might be able to get up there, but that is pretty heavy as well.

If what you are saying about Signal Strength is nothing more than power to LNB - then something is definitely wrong about the cable I would think because I should be getting close to 100% right? Do you really think it will make that much of a difference if I get a RG6 cable and run it that way? If you do, I will go and get it but I kinda wanted to do a Proof of Concept test with a little less quality before I went out and did that.

Thank you for your replies.

 

[Lak7]

No, no 100% ever. LOL
Every receiver has a different sensitivity, anything over 50% is something to work with.
Up and Down up go.
Remember that when you add the motor, you will have to do this all over again
If possible, have someone watch the TV while you adjust the Dish

 

[themango69]

No, no 100% ever. LOL
Every receiver has a different sensitivity, anything over 50% is something to work with.
Up and Down up go.

If possible, have someone watch the TV while you adjust the Dish

Gotcha, good to know. Yea I will have my wife work with me tomorrow to adjust to try to get the 97W and if that one doesn't work, I will try out IceBerg's suggestion of 79W. I guess I was completely retarded about the Azimuth setting, no wonder why I probably wasn't hitting it!

Just to be clear about when I hit the satellite, will the Quality instantly go up from 0% or what will be obvious for her to let me know? I was just keeping it on the "Dish Setting" menu with the right settings you gave and watching that - so hopefully that is on the right path. I think guy who sold me unit told me wrong info as he said it will always say 0%.

 

[Lak7]

The Quality Bar will "Light up" when you hit it the Sat.
Stay cool and dry, aligning take time and patience.

 

[delta_charlie]

Hi Themango69, I'm also in Orlando and maybe if you are still having trouble I could come over this weekend and try to help.

I have a small 13 TV that we could hoop up at the dish to get you locked on to one of the satellites.

Let me know, DC

 

[themango69]

Hi Themango69, I'm also in Orlando and maybe if you are still having trouble I could come over this weekend and try to help.

I have a small 13 TV that we could hoop up at the dish to get you locked on to one of the satellites.

Let me know, DC

Appreciate that. I am starting my work in about 15 minutes with a friend with the suggestions given above and fingers crossed - hopefully i'll see positive Quality!

 

[themango69]

There is a number on the dish mount bracket that doesn't say what it is and there is an elevaation settting on the motor mount. Do I just need to set the motor mount elevation setting correctly and not other one? What does the other mount need to be set to?